India a top five country for us globally, says Booking.com parent

While foreign tourist arrivals in India are yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, Steenbergen noted strong international demand from travellers wanting to visit the country

Booking Holdings, the parent of online travel aggregators like Booking.com and Agoda, said India is among its top five priority markets, as the country grows at a faster rate than the entire Asia region.

 

“This year, our growth in Asia has been over 10 per cent, and India is clearly growing in line with that, or even faster,” Ewout Steenbergen, executive vice-president and chief financial officer, Booking Holdings, who is visiting India told Business Standard.

 

Crediting infrastructural developments in the country for the growth of the travel market, he said that it is helping revive global interest in the country. 

 

 

“The improvements India has done in airports and infrastructure, the expansion of the airlines, the new Air India, what Indigo is doing, is really impressive, which is making India a destination of choice,” he said.

 

While foreign tourist arrivals in the country are yet to bounce back from the pre-pandemic levels, he said they are seeing a very high demand from international travellers who want to visit the country.

 

Steenbergen added that the alternative accommodation category on the platforms has seen significant growth.

 

“We see very high demand for alternative accommodations like guest houses and apartments across the world and in India. I think, while there will always be demand for good hotels, what is really interesting is that alternative accommodations are growing so rapidly,” he said.

 

According to the company’s SEC filings, Booking.com has approximately 3.9 million total properties globally as of September 30 this year, consisting of over 475,000 hotels, motels, and resorts and over 3.4 million alternative accommodation properties (including homes, apartments, and other unique places to stay). This represents an increase from approximately 3.3 million total properties at September 30, 2023.

 

In India, the platform has 70,000 properties across categories.

 

Having identified India as a big growth market, he said the company will be investing $250 million in the Centre of Excellence it has established in Bengaluru over the coming five years, while also expanding its talent pool from the country from over 700 currently to 1,000. 

 

Steenbergen highlighted the importance of Generative AI for the company, stating that it will ultimately help them curate a more seamless and personalised travel experience for customers.

 

“The more we know of travellers – their history, what they like and what they have done – we can come up with much better recommendations. It will, therefore, make it much easier for customers to find their desired options and make that booking,” he added.